Industrial Application

OC Robotics has experts dedicated to analysing problems in industrial settings. The extent of the applications snake-arm robots is continually expanding to embrace new sectors. The success traditionally experienced in the areas of nuclear, aerospace and defence is now burgeoning into other vital areas, from fuel-storage to medicine and more.

1. Confined spaces

2. The solution

Snake-arm robots

3. Snake-arms in action

100m long

One of the key advantages of OC Robotics’ snake-arms is the potential for variation in scale. The smallest snake-arm so far delivered was a 12.5mm diameter portable endoscope for the Department of Defense. At the other end of the spectrum, the longest arm analysed is a 100m long snake for pipe-work inspection.

Mobile

Mobility of the robot systems is often of importance to OC Robotics’ clients. Some of the smaller snakes delivered have been completely mobile with battery operation. Some of the larger and more complex robots have been able to be installed and deployed very quickly and then operated remotely with mobile laptops.

OC Robotics completed its first commercial nuclear contract in the summer of 2004. Two types of robot (five in total) were supplied to Ringhals AB to complete an urgent pipe replacement in an extremely awkward area below one of their reactors

OC Robotics signed a contract with the UK MoD to build a snake-arm robot to be used on a remote vehicle. The arm had to be 2.5m long and able to carry apayload of 25kg. It also had to be capable of towing a car

With the problems of radiation dosage and confined spaces, the nuclear industry is a clear beneficiary of snake-arm technology. That fact is borne out by the contracts won and snake-arms delivered by OC Robotics to its nuclear clients